Disclaimer: Transformers © Hasbro

Notes: This one got a little long and plotty on me. I half-expected to be writing something spicy for this particular prompt, but somehow it became somewhat fluffy. I have no idea.

Prompt: On His Knees


That could have gone a lot better, Starscream thought dryly as he leaned on the wall of the repair bay, silently watching the Constructicons begin work on the more heavily-damaged soldier. Then again, it could have been a lot worse.

He had warned Megatron that attacking a power plant so close to the Autobots' base wasn't the best idea, but had conceded on the point that they were running far too low on energon to choose a target further out. The only suggestion he could offer was to have the Constructicons – and therefore Devastator – remain behind to ensure that they wouldn't be damaged when the Autobots realized what they were up to.

Amazingly, the commander had listened to his advice and ordered the combiner team to be on stand-by for repairs. It was a good thing he had, too, seeing as how they'd been thoroughly thrashed. Four of Starscream's seekers were currently in the repair bay with heavy injuries, the air commander himself putting off his own repairs to make sure that the others were seen to; Skywarp had only managed to escape little more than a few scratches and burns to his armour by teleporting out from under those blasted twins when he'd been targeted.

On the more positive side, they'd gathered enough energy to fuel the army for the next few months if they rationed it properly.

Satisfied that his seekers were being seen to properly, Starscream pushed himself off the wall and left the room. There were others still with worse injuries than he was carrying, and he could do the minor repairs to his frame in the meantime. The hallway was deserted, given that most of the soldiers were either awaiting repairs or had retreated to their quarters upon returning to base, and Megatron had likely contacted Shockwave by now to find out how much energon would need to be sent to Cybertron; it would be a relatively easy task for Starscream to limp to his own quarters without being seen.

He was in the hall leading to the officers' quarters when his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, catching himself before going face-first into the wall. A quick glance revealed that maybe he should have remained in the repair bay; that cut on his leg hadn't seemed too deep before, but now it was leaking energon at a steady pace.

"Frag," the seeker complained quietly, attempting to stand but only making it as far as his knees before leaning heavily on the wall. There was no way he could go back now, yet it was going to be next to impossible to make it as far as his room without crawling... and even then he wasn't sure he'd be able to tend to the damage.

"Idiot."

Starscream tensed slightly at the distinctive voice, turning his head slightly to find that the hall wasn't as empty as he'd thought. Soundwave's face was as unreadable as always behind that slagging visor and mask of his, but the tone wasn't as empty as usual. It wasn't amusement he thought he heard, but there was still some inflection.

"Query: what do you think you are doing?" the spy continued, his stance showing that he had no intention of leaving without an answer.

"Oh, nothing much," Starscream tried to drawl, although it just came out sounding drained. "Just sitting here, inspecting the hallway."

Soundwave huffed through his vents, obviously not buying it. "Damages: not minor. You should be in the repair bay."

"I'm fine," the seeker argued, ignoring the fact that he was still kneeling on the floor. "A few cuts and dings can wait."

The larger mech still wasn't buying the argument, which was made obvious a moment later as he crossed the brief distance between them and carefully hauled Starscream to his feet before picking him up and turning back towards the repair bay.

"Put me down," the seeker demanded weakly, optics flickering as his HUD began flashing a low-fuel warning. When Soundwave ignored his request he heaved a tired sigh and asked, "Why're you so stubborn?"

Later, he wouldn't be certain whether or not he had imagined the spy's response: "Because somebody has to look out for you."